Sonic Ninja Re:Load
by kusarihime
Summary: The Sonic Ninja game's second installment, 'Sonic Ninja Re:Load' is finally out with a new feature: the players have to create their own Original Characters.


Me: *checked the prompts on Karushuu Week in Tumblr and seeing CROSSDRESS as the top one* DAMN IT! I CAN'T IMAGINE THESE TWO WEARING GIRL'S CLOTHES WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO WRITE!?

*Went to the internet cafe later. There are a lot of guys playing League of Legends and the manong bantay (staff) said I can't watch videos coz it'll lag their game*

Me: *in my mind* ... These scumbags are the worst. We pay the same amount why the fuck can they do what they want while I can't watch anime!? *peers to the gamer next to me. His character is a big breasted woman that I don't have the fucking faintest idea who was.*

Me: ...

Me: ... _Wait._

Me: *... _LIGHT BULB_ *

* * *

Karma heavily slumped on his bed.

Damn. Asano Gakushuu and that brain of his were just tiring to deal with.

Everyday had been a relentless battle against Kunugigaoka's Ace. As much as it was fun to compete and fight Asano head on, at times it was just so _exhausting_.

As expected (and to the entire Class A's dismay), Karma belonged to Class 1-A as he entered the new class year in Kunugigaoka High School. All of his classmates who used to bully him and the Class 3-E of the previous year were cautious and wary about him, knowing his middle school delinquent history and the fact that of all people, it was him who defeated Great Gakushuu Asano in the toughest exam they had face thus far. Karma didn't mind the treatment they were giving him for as much as they didn't want to do anything with him, Karma didn't give a shit about them either.

Asano, meanwhile, was as cunning as ever. Not even once, whether in exams, reports, recitations, debates, even in extra-curricular activities, he let Karma win without giving a rough fight.

Like today. They were given by the teacher a question to debate over and as expected, they had different answers. Asano gave his ever so detailed and informative reason why he got his answer. It sounded like a boring speech and Karma almost felt like feigning sleepiness just to be annoying. But his answer was plausibly right in all fairness, thanks to his enlightening justification. But of course Karma wouldn't back down. He laid his reasons out with his own style, like wielding his blade while poising the second one on the best place. When the debate started and they began exchanging opinion, it was yet another war. The discussion took more than half an hour and still, no one wanted to surrender. In the end, their shaken and impressed teacher dismissed the class without closing the debate, saying that everyone had their own beliefs and opinions and the top two students had the best one he had heard so far. He gave them equal points and proceeded into giving them bunch of homework.

Asano didn't win but Karma interpreted the amicable smile on his face as a smug one and it irked him a little. He wanted to pull something nasty for him for being an annoying ass but he knew better— Asano was clever enough to foil his tricks even before Karma could make preparations. Really, he was up against a tough nutcase and it excited and frustrated him at the same time.

But hey, wait. School was over and he should stop wasting time thinking of that insufferable genius; he already wasted enough earlier.

Karma reached for his DS and opened his recently downloaded game, Sonic Ninja Re:Load. It was the second installment of his favorite game but with a new feature: it let the players create their very own characters and customize their abilities and weapon. Each original character was allowed to make his own troupe consisted of three characters provided by the game. It was a very different version of the first one with interesting story and new complicated, challenging missions. One of its highlights was he could connect to the net and fight other online players real time. He had gone quite some level up, and of all his frequent opponents, there was this one who he was having trouble dealing with.

He started playing, warming his characters up and equipping them with the latest upgrades of weapons and leveling up their skills. He defeated some players and when he was about to go to the next level, something popped out and revealed another interesting game feature.

It turned out that after reaching the fiftieth floor and reaching a certain level of skills, he was granted to add another character to his group, a character that he must customize himself.

Karma couldn't pass the level unless he worked on the next add-on backup. The familiar customization options appeared with a semi-naked, breathing mannequin on it. Karma was lazy to dress it up, and he was out of ideas so he dumped the DS on the bed. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander aimlessly.

A certain person surfaced on it. Asano Gakushuu. Hmm, for a boy, his strawberry blonde hair was quite an odd color but it looked good on him. He was popular with the girls with that charisma and brain. Hmm...

Karma reached for his DS and woke the console up. He then switched the gender of the character from male to female.

This second installment of the game was particular with making the players choose, design, and create their characters. From the body built, skin color, hair color, eye type, down to costumes and poses. There were a lot of choices to choose from, and as Karma expected, there were the exact color shades he needed.

Strawberry blonde hair and striking violet eyes with long lashes and thin lines under the eyelids. Once Karma was satisfied enough with the resemblance (which was frighteningly close), he switched tab to designs and clothes.

He went for long pigtails with stray strands and bangs framing the character's face. Black choker, black, above the knee Lolita dress with gold crisscross straps in front and long flailing sleeves , two-inch heeled strapped black and gold sandals with matching gold bracelet on her right wrist. Karma chose to make him a bit flat-chested to retain the look that strongly reminded him of his inspiration in designing this character. He completed the overall get up with a chained Naginata as her weapon.

Heck, Karma laughed out. Damn. He supposed he should screenshot this and post it on the bulletin board in school first thing in the morning.

Asano Gakushuu looked so cute as a girl as _fuck_.

And whoa, Karma didn't know he had a hidden skill with color combining and mixing and matching girl's clothes and accessories. Well for one thing: Asano's looks likely carried out the charm of his simple choices of details. It really turned out disturbingly nice.

Karma made a mental note to drop by to a printing shop later before setting off to step up on the game.

Gakushuu went straight to his room soon after greeting his father in his office.

He placed his bag on his study table and changed his clothes, folding his soiled uniform on the basket that the maid would pick up later.

School activities had been hectic as ever and as the newly elected student council president, he was the busiest of them all. It was pretty late when he got home and tired of course, but despite working his ass off more than he necessarily needed to, he did have time and energy to preserve and use to do normal boy things like playing video games.

Actually, Gakushuu wasn't that much of a gamer, though of course learning how to be one was an easy feat for him.

Currently, he was engrossed in an RPG game titled 'Sonic Ninja Re:Load', which was a second installment of the famous Sonic Ninja game that gained popularity months ago (he didn't play it back then but when this second one got out and Ren recommended it, he completed the first game within a week to jump to the new one). It had a high definition option to create your very own RPG character. It was like creating a version of yourself that you could modify at will. Gakushuu had taken quite some hours when he worked in building up his avatar, making sure it was void of weaknesses and flaws, just like the way he kept his real self strong and ideal.

Which was becoming a little conflicted nowadays all thanks to a genius delinquent.

Karma Akabane was a tough rival. All this time Gakushuu believed he was the best of the bests, until that red head arrived and attempted to dethrone him. Gakushuu wouldn't let him, of course. He might be a genius, but still there was a difference between a clean and top notch student and a delinquent with a bad history.

He'd been the major pain in Gakushuu's neck since the new school year started. But if Gakushuu had to be honest, competing with Akabane was fun if not restless and ferocious. All the while he had taken him as a punk with wasted talents and potential, but when they became classmates, distinct changes were evident in his behavior.

Less fight, less sharp tongue, and less cutting classes. He did his homework and passed them on time, earning good points much to Class A's surprise. It seemed he changed for the better after graduating middle school, after that Koro-Sensei incident. Their rivalry sure was tiring, but it was apparent that with this dominance game of theirs, they were growing stronger and wiser. They were improving, turning into their better selves than before.

In time Gakushuu learned to get used to him, he even learned to fend his advances to provoke him, letting him know that he wasn't just someone he could defeat. That went for Gakushuu as well. Akabane was a really, really good opponent.

Gakushuu was good in many things, too. This game included. In a matter of a week, within just two to three hours of playing everyday, he easily reached the fiftieth level with his skills and HP towering high as his grades. However, the gate to the next missions was obstructed with a bonus feature.

He could add an additional, customized ally to add to his troupe. Gakushuu smiled: another character he could personalize and equip with highest caliber weapons and abilities. This was getting more exciting.

He then remembered that there was this one player who was pretty hard to bring down. He was leveling up quick and Gakushuu supposed he was a pro. He reminded him of Akabane, but the gaming world was too big for them to clash coincidentally even here, he supposed.

Gakushuu reviewed the stats of his troupe first. Good so far, his male archer and swordsman just had the latest upgrades. He checked the one and only woman on the group, the witch. He chose this character for support for the more aggressive members (she provided HP replenishments and shield charms to lessen the damages his opponent inflicted). She was a cute girl with red long hair and matching crimson, round big eyes, wearing a hooded cloak and belt with assorted small flasks and test tubes dangling on it. She was just a minor role considerably but Gakushuu believed she had the most important task.

Her bloody red hair suddenly reminded him of a delinquent he had yet another debate earlier. Back then Gakushuu was a little irked for how impressively sharp his rival was. He had seen points that Gakushuu missed and he was able to explain them with coherence. The fight was neck to neck and even if Gakushuu didn't win, Akabane didn't either so that was okay.

Hmm. Gakushuu chortled at the ridiculous thought that crossed his mind.

Chuckling to himself, he started to work on his new character. It wouldn't hurt to add another female to his group, would it?

Long, wavy red hair with two thin braided strands on both side of her head, gold, sharp eyes, and fair complexion. He went for a flat chest to maintain the resemblance.

He proceeded to the clothes and chose a pink and white, spaghetti strapped, above the knee hooded dress with frilly hem, revealing two flawless legs. Add a pink skull hair pin on her bangs, a silver necklace with matching cross bone skull pendant that had heart shaped eye holes, and pink bangles clamped on her arms. He chose a strapped, two-inch pumps for the shoes, which circled from the ankle up to below her knees, colored in a pink and silver combination with small skull and star studs as the strap locks. Add a scythe and Gakushuu figured he just made his own moe Shinigami character inspired with Karma Akabane's features.

He ran over his choices of designs and what the hell? Who would have thought that pink suited that bastard? Much to his amusement (and disappointment), Karma Akabane could be a bewitching bitch as a girl.

He began amping up her abilities then, gearing her scythe up with the latest upgrades. As the avatar posed and moved and virtually breathed, he couldn't help but keep his eyes on her. This was funny, maybe he would show this to Ren tomorrow to make fun out of it.

Upgrades checked, his own avatar stats checked, moe Shinigami Karma-chan checked. Gakushuu supposed he was ready to go thus he entered the gates to the fifty-first level of the game.

Gakushuu faced his very first opponent as soon as he entered the dungeon. It was that so familiar tough player, Kram-sama. Kram served the challenge to him which Gakushuu accepted. As the screen flashed a close shot of Kram's troupe, Gakushuu instantly noticed his new original character. He frowned at its odd color shade of hair. Strawberry blonde in ponytails. And upon closer scrutiny, her eyes were purple _. Now, wait a second..._

Kram-sama fired off a message which popped out down the lower part of the screen.

[Kram_Sama]: _Yo._

[Kram_Sama]: _Can it be that ur Asano-kun?_

God freaking damn it _._

[GA_01]: _Akabane_

[Kram_Sama]: _Nice its u after ol_

[GA_01]: _Still being a jerk be it on real life or virtual._

[Kram_Sama]: _So much 4 ur choice of color. Pink? Lol_

[GA_01]: _In all fairness you are no better._

[GA_01]: _Let me give credit for how you pulled the color tho._

[GA_01]: _Was surprised myself that pink suits you_

[Kram_Sama]: _why Ace-kun, don't u think my choice of lolita look is just perfect? Ah, the girls will surely start trending it on kunugi once i post it all over d campus!_

[GA_01]: _Here I thought sending a screenshot of this as postcards to your ex-Class E buddies to let them know how you're doing_

[Kram_Sama]: _aww, we just think so alike, nee?_

[GA_01]: _Enough of sappy chit chats._

[GA_01]: _Let's get this over._

[GA_01]: _Get ready to have your ass kicked back to the previous checkpoint._

[Kram_Sama]: _scary. lemme see u try._

[GA_01]: _GAME ON_

[Kram_Sama]: _wish u luck second place~ XP_

And so Gakushuu and Karma spent the next two hours besting each other, trying to chuck the other out of the level but with no avail for they were defeated by other two pro players even before they cleared level 51.


End file.
